Projects / Flight Watchman

Category: General Aviation Safety Product

Product Name: Flight Watchman

Availability: 2019

Real World Electrical Failures

PA-28 Experiences Total Electrical Failure -

C172 In Flight Emergency -

C172 Electrical Failure at night -

Flight Watchman

PHire-1 Solutions latest product research is coming to its conclusion with the Flight Watchman approaching production readiness. Expect to see a Kickstarter or equivalent in late 2018 for this unique product.

Why Do I Need It?

Electrical Systems Availability

With more than 30 years of General Aviation experience, we have watched as a plethora of additional electonic tools have been added into the cockpit of even the simplest aircraft. At the same time we have also been dismayed at the lack of progress in the area of tools to monitor the health of the electrical system and to assist in predicting its future availability.

Overstressed Airframe

We all know that light aircraft are incredibly resilient as a resuilt of rigorous manufacture. Over time this degrades. As a weekend pilot I have rented aircraft from many organisations and while I have turned down the odd one for various reasons, (Flat Tyres, Low Battery Charge, Broken Seatbelt to name a few) I have often wondered if the rental organisation has any real idea as to the real state of the aircraft and the level of abuse that previous pilot's may have inflicted upon it.

It would be nice to know that the aircraft you are going to fly has not been abused and that its multitude of systems are going to successfully get you to the end of the flight.

Until now there has been no tool to facilitate this.

What is the Flight Watchman?

The Flight Watchman is a safety improvement tool for owners and operators of light aircraft, in particular single engine, single alternator aircraft. It is designed to fit into the cigarette lighter of your aircraft and draws less than 400mA with nothing plugged in to it.

Features

The Flight Watchman provides the following functions:

Continuous Electrical System Monitoring:

Spike Monitor -
Aircraft electrical systems are notoriously noisy but there is a limit. The Flight Watchman detects spikes up to 40 volts on the electrical bus with a resolution of 0.04 volts. It operates with a bandwidth of 50Hz. It can be used on aircraft with a bus voltage of up to 28 Volts. The parameters for normal operation are configurable.

Overflow Detection -
When a spike of more than 40 volts is detected, the Electrical System Monitor will log the overflow so that you are not missing anything.

Data Logging -
All data is logged to the MicroSD card for post mortem analysis after the flight. At the end of the flight, the data is able to be downloaded to your PC or Mac to facilitate analysis of the electrical system of your aircraft.

Navigation and Performance Logging:

Navigation Data - The Flight Watchman contains a micro GPS that enables the post mortem analysis of you flight or, if you are are an Instructor, your students flight. The aircraft location is logged every second onto the MicroSD card.

Attitude Information - The Flight Watchman also contains a gyroscope and accelerometers which provide flight performance data which is also logged to the MicroSD Card every second.

Flight Assessment -
At the end of the flight, the pilots performance is able to be analysed by removing the MicroSD card from the Flight Watchman and inserting it into your PC or Mac to download the data it has captured. By monitoring each flight, you are able to:

Safe USB Device Charging:

USB Charger - Many pilots use the cigarette lighter to provide power to devices such as phones and tablets during flight. The use of the Flight Watchman does not prevent you from charging your device in the cigarette lighter, in fact it facilitates it by providing a high cpacity USB charger.

Quality Components - Most usb chargers used in cars are gas station purchased and are often of dubious quality. The Flight Watchman reduces your risk by providing a high quality USB charger made with high quality AEC approved components. The Flight Watchman has been constructed using AEC certified components throughout the power supply and it is capable of providing up to 3 Amps continuously. Each device is tested for not less than 1 hour prior to shipment to confirm that performance.

Fast Charging - The Flightwatchman includes a 3 Amp power supply and a 2Amp charger that supports the following standards: